I'm thinking about adding a series of articles to my website, but I would also like to have blog posts. Does anyone have a feel for the difference between the two? All I can think now is 1) word count - articles should be longer, blogs short and sweet, and 2) put more personality in blogs or have them about personal matters or more of my voice.

Another thought I had was to have an Article page and a News page (which would be the blog). Although I'm not sure what "news" I would include.

How do others differentiate the two? Or do you? I think the blogs I have now are more like articles....

Lindsay

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Lindsay
www.writingthatsizzles.net

Lindsay - To me, an article is something that is self-contained, and might be shared in any number of ways. Like a newspaper article, it's public domain, a story, something you might duplicate to share at a meeting or with a friend.

A blog post, while possibly fitting the above criteria, is best taken in context with the entire blog. A blog is a log or journal, a chronicle of your progress through something. So it's not so compact as an article. It's an ongoing thing.

Hope that helps a teeny bit. Turn it around, so you have an article page for news or manifestos of any kind, and a blog for asking questions and building a community.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Actually, I've had some of my blog posts reprinted elsewhere as articles. So it really depends on the particular blog in question. Most of my blog posts work well as stand alone articles. However, on my personal blog, most of my posts are really only understandable in the context of the overall blog. So, really, blog posts may or may not be the same as articles.

Is that clear as mud? *laughs*

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Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

I always call those blog entry as blog article. Well maybe a blog is more personal, like your own story about something while article is more of a professional approach in writing.

Blog posts should be short and sweet in order to engage your readers and have them return for more. An article should be a minimum of 500 words. There is no rule in stone however rule of thumb is blog posts should be under 400 words and articles should be a minimum of 500 words. However articles for print are a little different. If it is for a magazine some magazines would like articles to be under 400 words and some may request over 500. It all depends what the article is for and who it is for.

I always create an article and blog post to go with it. So basiclly a brief summary of the article and then link the blog post to the article. This way you are engaging your web visitors to roam around your site.

Originally Posted by jervz

I always call those blog entry as blog article. Well maybe a blog is more personal, like your own story about something while article is more of a professional approach in writing.

This is only really true if you're writing a personal blog. A business blog is a very different animal.

Originally Posted by VBSOnDemand

Blog posts should be short and sweet in order to engage your readers and have them return for more. An article should be a minimum of 500 words. There is no rule in stone however rule of thumb is blog posts should be under 400 words and articles should be a minimum of 500 words. However articles for print are a little different. If it is for a magazine some magazines would like articles to be under 400 words and some may request over 500. It all depends what the article is for and who it is for.

Again, it really depends on the blog in question, on the topic and on the audience. I know some blogs that have very long posts that I avidly read every word of. Others I skip over long posts because they get annoying. Still others I don't like because they're posts are too short and to the point. The topic needs more words, but they've been so indoctrinated into the short and sweet point of view that they leave their readers feeling like they've been shortchanged.

There is no one rule of thumb for blogging and the optimum blog post length. As I said, take into consideration your topic and audience when writing, whether it's for a blog or an article. Match your length to the necessities of those.

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Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

Thanks for all the responses. I think I need to decide on my vision for the blog and outline what kind of articles I might provide. Appreciate the feedback very much!

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Lindsay
www.writingthatsizzles.net

Hi Lindsay,

I agree with the opinion that, while there are exceptions, articles are generally more stand-alone ready than posts. In general, blog posts speak continuously to a specific group about a specific topic. They sometimes stray, but the overall trend for most business blogs is fairly consistent. Articles can be vastly different in subject, presentation, length technical level...depending on why and for whom they are written.

I occasionally write for a very small local newspaper. When I write for the food page, my space limitations are extremely tight. I know that if I submit a piece that's longer than 250 words, it is likely to be a victim of the editorial desk chopping block. So I make a point of keeping my writing to about 200 words. However, if I write a feature article for that same paper, I have about twice as much space to work with as well as a much larger spectrum of topics than the food page offers.

Another thing to think about is which audience you want to attract. Let's say most of your current clients are from Target Market A, but you would like to expand your business to reach Target Market B as well. If you craft a series of articles designed to speak to the Bs, you can eventually bring them to your site. But until those Bs are clients, your blog should most likely be written in terms the As would relate to--since they are the folks already coming to your site. Does that make sense?

If you have the time, I see no reason why you shouldn't do both! It'll give you twice the opportunity to demonstrate what you know.

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AnnaLisa Michalski, Sunny Words Writing Services

Articles are generally approximately 1500 words and contain explanations, analysis and/or visuals (screen captures, illustrations, etc.) Articles are evaluated on the value of the content to the community as well as on accuracy.

Blogs are tips, general information, or otherwise brief information regarding the use and implementation of Symantec products. Blogs are generally between 100 and 500 words and are submitted to the site via the blogs area in the Symantec Connect community. Tips must relate to Symantec products. Blogs entries must be of interest to the Symantec Connect community.

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In editing/polishing blogs, are you obligated to fact-check everything as you do in articles? Or are they considered opinion and therefore require
less rigorous checking? (Not that anyone would express less than the absolute truth in an opinion piece.)

I have been asked to work on a blog and I am totally unfamiliar with the guidelines - if there are any.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.